1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cell sorting method using a fiber unit and a cell sorter having a fiber unit.
2. Related Background Art
A technique of sorting particles such as cells by use of optical fibers is known. With respect to this technique, the following particle sorter is disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example. This particle sorter is configured so that particles serving as sorting targets are floated in a fluid, a focus spot row is formed in the fluid by use of an optical fiber group in which a plurality of optical fibers are arrayed in line, and the particles are sorted focusing on a difference in resistance force on the particles received from the fluid when the optical fiber group is moved to move the focus spot row.
Meanwhile, as a method for performing distinguishing and sorting of living cells, a FACS (fluorescence activated cell sorting) method is known. This FACS method is to measure fluorescence intensities in fluorescently-labeled samples, and to designate arbitrary samples from the obtained intensity distribution data, to perform distinguishing and sorting of living cells.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. Hei-03-295464